Chapter 10: Immortal Arts, Divine Abilities, and Cultivation Methods (Please add to your collection! Please keep reading!)

Zhao Tang led this group of newly recruited disciples first to identify the location of the Miaofa Pavilion, then guided them to the front of the disciple quarters.

It was called a courtyard, but the Zhenyiyuan Sect governed a vast territory. They had leveled two immortal mountains to renovate these living quarters, so even when viewed from a height, one could not easily see the boundaries at a glance.

Looking inside from the entrance, the area was dotted with bamboo forests and rockeries, arranged with elegance.

"Male disciples are in the East Courtyard, and female disciples are in the West Courtyard. Each person gets one room. Any room where the stone pillar at the entrance does not have a name inscribed is available for you to choose freely. Once you have selected one, take out your token and leave an imprint on the pillar."

After giving these instructions, Zhao Tang turned and left without lingering.

Shao Heng walked into the West Courtyard immediately. She had nothing to consider; it took her about half a quarter of an hour to find a vacant room. She pressed her disciple token against the stone pillar, and her name appeared instantly. A magical array pattern also emerged at the entrance, which could be activated by the room's occupant to prevent other disciples from disturbing them.

Shao Heng pushed the door open and entered, simultaneously activating the array to isolate the room from outside observation and disturbance.

Her gaze swept across the room. The curtains were not drawn, and the space was extremely spacious, with bright windows and clean surfaces.

There was no bedding on the bed frame, only a large yellow cattail hassock placed in the center for daily meditation and cultivation.

In addition, there were two sets of yellow outer-disciple robes placed beside the hassock.

Shao Heng trotted over and picked up the disciple robes. They felt silky to the touch; even the finest silk in the secular world would pale in comparison.

She untied the cloth strips, took off her old clothes, changed into the brand-new yellow robe, and tied her long hair back with a ribbon, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Good heavens, this material is ten times more comfortable to wear than hemp cloth!"

After changing, Shao Heng sprawled out in a "big" shape, lazily lying on the hassock to stretch her limbs and close her eyes for a brief rest.

She had lived a pampered life for fourteen years, and even after suffering for more than thirty days, the extravagance ingrained in her bones was hard to wash away.

A moment later, Shao Heng stood up, put the other set of disciple robes into her storage ring, and then pushed the door open to head toward the Miaofa Pavilion.

About a quarter of an hour later, she arrived in front of a bamboo building.

Shao Heng had seen such structures before, mostly in mottled shades of brownish-yellow, but the bamboo building before her was entirely verdant green, looking vibrant and eye-catching.

It occupied a significant area; she made a rough estimate and figured it covered at least twenty mu, divided into five floors in total.

Even though it was evening, the place was not deserted. There were still yellow-clad disciples coming and going—some walking alone with their heads down, others in small groups, whispering to one another.

After Shao Heng walked through the main entrance and verified her identity with her disciple token, she received a book list from the disciple guarding the entrance.

Looking at the contents of the list, she couldn't help but click her tongue.

The first floor alone housed over 130,000 volumes; it was truly worthy of a great sect's accumulation.

"Even if I had a photographic memory and read day and night without rest, I wouldn't finish them in two or three years," Shao Heng thought to herself.

"I must be targeted and focus my information gathering on the two directions of 'innate supernatural powers' and 'human aptitude'."

Although she still had to attend the outer sect elder's lecture tomorrow to see the specific situation, Shao Heng already possessed cultivation. She only needed to circulate her mana to restore her energy, so staying up all night here would be no problem.

She followed the index on the book list and soon moved a large pile of books, stacking them on an empty table.

"Thump." The books were too heavy, and even though Shao Heng tried to control them, they made a dull thud when they landed on the table.

In the center of the first floor of the Miaofa Pavilion, an old man sat in a rocking chair.

He had been resting with his eyes closed, but upon hearing the sound, he opened his eyes and looked over. He saw a young female disciple holding a thick book, scanning it ten lines at a time.

The old man raised an eyebrow, closed his eyes again, and turned to his right on the rocking chair to lie more comfortably.

When the sun had completely vanished and the night grew thick, the stars faded, and the bright moon could be seen hanging high in the sky through the window.

Shao Heng looked curiously at a snow-white porcelain bottle placed on the table.

She had thought it was just an ornament, but at that moment, crimson patterns appeared on the porcelain body. It then floated into the air, and a strange flame ignited inside the bottle. The light emitted pierced through the thin bottle, bright enough to illuminate the entire desk.

"Not bad at all," she couldn't help but praise.

The youth in the yellow robe lowered her head again and continued reading the *Essentials of Li Family Cultivation* in her hands.

When she finished the entire book, Shao Heng placed it on the table without picking up another one.

She understood the meaning of "learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous." If she only memorized blindly, she wouldn't have been able to write brilliant essays in the past.

By now, Shao Heng had finished reading fourteen books related to human cultivation. The scattered information she had accumulated was enough to form a summary.

"Alchemical pills, talismans, arrays, and magical artifacts are known as the Four Arts of Cultivation. They can be used to enhance one's own practice or for combat and killing. But setting aside these four arts, the methods of combat between cultivators should actually be divided into three major categories."

Shao Heng whispered to herself.

"Immortal arts, supernatural powers, and techniques."

She took the draft paper and brush prepared on the desk, wrote down the three names, and categorized them accordingly.

"Immortal arts originate from innate evolution or are created by great masters, divided into lower, middle, and upper grades. Things like the Water-Avoidance Spell or the Dust-Cleansing Spell are unranked. True ranked immortal arts all have core principles and can evolve into many variations. The example given in *The Legend of Jingchuan* is the very famous lower-grade immortal art, *Essentials of Water Control*. Once mastered, one can condense water into ice, churn rivers and seas, summon water into mist, drive clouds to bring rain..."

"Supernatural powers have no grade distinctions. They are bestowed by the principles of the Great Dao when a cultivating being enters the fourth realm, 'Rebirth,' and forges the foundation of an immortal. Every cultivating being only gets this one chance. Compared to immortal arts, they contain unfathomable rules and truths, often possessing many incredible, counter-intuitive powers, but they are highly random. There was once a cultivator who specialized in fire-element arts, but the Great Dao bestowed upon him the 'Water-Hiding' power, which could enhance the power of immortal arts while in water, eventually forcing this cultivator to master the balance of water and fire."

"Techniques also have no grade distinctions; only high-level cultivators are qualified to explore them. The same immortal art can be practiced by many people, and in the 'Great Thousand Supernatural Power Ranking' which records all supernatural powers that have appeared throughout history, only the top hundred have contemporary uniqueness; it is not rare for different cultivators to possess the same power one after another. Techniques are different; they possess true uniqueness and cannot be learned by others. They are self-realized by the cultivator, perfectly fitting themselves, and have more growth potential than immortal arts."

Shao Heng sorted out this information thoroughly, and she finally understood why that divine voice had said Jiang Yunjiao was gifted.

An innate supernatural power meant being born with the blessing of the Great Dao, possessing one such power.

And when she promoted to a fourth-realm cultivator, Jiang Yunjiao would be able to possess two!

Shao Heng thought to herself: "So that's what 'monstrous talent' refers to. An omen, an omen?...An omen!"

She suddenly widened her eyes, tightly grasping the flash of inspiration that had crossed her mind, letting the blurred memory become clear again with the recollection.

That was too long ago; she must have been four or five years old.

Shao Heng had once accidentally heard from a servant woman at the Marquis of Pingnan's mansion that more than fourteen years ago, an omen had also appeared in the city of Bianjing!